If anything Being overly bulky and trying to run just don't match. So of course the one side will deride the other and we will all enjoy doing the same in return. We just need to remember that different people define fitness in their own way and leave it at that. As far as extracurriculars to running, I really enjoy rock climbing. The two compliment each other well as running makes you light on the wall and can therefore pull yourself up the wall easier, and climbing improves your lateral stabilizers and core strength. Its a win win.

This is why I do pushups and pullups and other body weight exercises. I just feel they provide more functional strength and a more natural look. I wonder if T Nation is behind the 0.0 stickers I've been seeing. If you're not good at something it's easier to dislike it than to try to improve.

This reminds me of the "jocks" in high school who made fun of us runners. Of course, they couldn't run one lap around the track in anything near the pace at which we ran eight. But big is badass in our culture. Strength and power are lauded. And runners, for all the strength and stamina we got, tend to not be massively muscular in the way that our culture identifies as strong.

Whatever. Let them lift. There's part of me that's envious. But only part. I like to put my shoes on and go like hell. I like to run out my door and keep going for an hour or two. I like to wrestle with the demons out on the road. It works for me. No need to badmouth other athletes.

But if you do, just make sure you got your running shoes on, and then go like hell in the other direction. They're not likely to catch you, with all that upper body muscle weighing them down.

Husband. Father of three. Lutheran pastor. National Guardsman. Runner. Political junkie. Baseball fan.

Goals for 2014:

Sub-3:30 marathon; run for a year free from major injuries or interruptions

Another benefit of running making you skinny: it improves certain body "aesthetics"; indeed, optical illusions. Having too much muscle mass defeats this illusion. For further explanation, I point you to male porn stars, and will say no more on the matter.

[/immaturity]

EDIT: Apparently, running also improves cardiovascular health, which helps with other...er...things. What's the point of all that huge muscle if a certain smaller element goes by the wayside?

scappodaqui

rather be sprinting

posted: 2/6/2014 at 11:39 PMmodified: 2/6/2014 at 11:40 PM

This is a pretty old article, actually. As someone who straddles both worlds, I have to say I hate that there is so much hate between them! I love to lift and I love what they call 'conditioning'; I also love to run. I just don't understand why the bodybuilder types rail against easy running when Arnold himself (along with copious steroids, of course) availed himself of a daily 5-mile jog. Lifting does well with a bit of an aerobic base. Likewise, running mechanics improve with heavy lifting.

The only real difference should be your focus. Want to compete in the mile and above, yeah, train that aerobic system more (means more mileage). Want to run track or jump or just lift heavy stuff, yes, do more anaerobic work to train that energy system more.

All this rah-rah hooplah running-is-bad-just-do-conditioning, or lifting-is-dumb-just-run... all THAT stuff is, is people justifying their subjective opinion. Neither is INHERENTLY bad, it's just a matter of what you prefer to do!

Or if you are me and like both, that's OK too. I mean, sometimes I'm in the head space where an 8-mile run feels like torture but a set of power cleans interspersed with chinups and burpees is fun. And sometimes I can't think of anything I would rather do than run, or sprint, or run easy, or run while having a conversation with a buddy, whereas hitting the weight room for yet another excruciating set of deadlifts drains me of my will to live. Both perspectives are valid and I may be tempted to project both attitudes onto others on that particular day, but... to each his/her own.

That is, to each according to his desires, from each according to his will. HA totally stole some Marxism there but warped it so it has a different (opposite) meaning.

I have been lifting for a few years and over the past four months ... started to get more into the power lifting side. I have enjoyed running and cycling for years before that and I think for me, running and cycling is not a means to an end. Yea, it keeps a person in shape but to a weight lifter whose focus is power lifting or figure competing ... it (cardio) tends to serve the purpose of helping with a cut. Now there are many who enjoy both "worlds" some here do, me included, but with training now for a HM, I can't be focused on both equally. That's how I view it. I also think if you view something as a chore, you have a tendency to put it down. I don't view running as a chore nor do any of you here. Human nature, maybe?

Good entertainment, yup. I used to be an iron-pumper, enjoyed it at the time, but can't say that what I got was exactly fitness.

Ahhhh...now...kicking back and enjoying being a master's runner...can't help but notice that the only fit people in my age group are the runners. Everyone who insisted on sticking with lifting is pretty much sidelined most of the time or became fat guys with a sorta-big muscle here and there.

In the old days some lifters ran and Bob Hoffman even wrote books about running.

I also do both and most of my strenght training is for strength, not endurance with light weights, so it's a completely different activity for me; in other words my primary focus is not on improving my cycling/running.

However, with respect to the question: Why can't we all get along? I think it's just engrained in our genes, sort of a leftover from our hunter/gatherer lifestyle where we were in competition with other clans for survival.

I've seen runners make some very disparaging remarks about lifting heavy weights. And it goes way beyond that; in the cycling community you got various warring clans, such as Roadies vs. Mountain Bikers....

You can look at any activity and see these warring clans, it just seems to be part of what we are; I blame genetics and evolution

It's funny, I feel the exact opposite! I make it a point to get to the gym once or twice a week for strength training, to the point where I've gotten to know some of the "gym rats" there, but I hate every minute of it. And of course, when I talk to those guys (who seem like a generally nice bunch of guys, at least at my gym), they're right in line with the quoted text.

Every year, our football coach hosts a powerlifting meet here, and I volunteer to help. First year I did it, I was struck by the esprit de corps amongst the lifters, even across school lines - it was almost exactly like a race. I also took note of how similar, at least in terms of motivation and dedication, their sport is to ours, and thus, I was surprised by the admiration I had for those guys.

I mean, they put in a lot of work on being able to lift a lot of weight and we put in a lot of work on running really far. Health benefits aside, in our modern society, is either one really any more useful than the other?

"God guides us on our journey, but careful with those feet." - David Lee Roth, of all people